Apparently being accosted in his office by old enemies who decided to show up without appointments was the new vogue thing, Draco thought sourly as his assistant hesitantly announced the arrival of Professor Minerva McGonagall, now Headmistress of Hogwarts. He looked down at his schedule, and chuckled inwardly when he noted that his work schedule was actually far less packed then his social schedule. Malfoy Industries had been mostly running itself for many years, and the staff was still just as competent as they had been. Most of his time was spent with the Muggle side of the business, it seemed that if he didn't keep a hard eye on it half the R&D team tried to blow up the lab daily.
He'd already been through two conference calls, and emailed at least five memos to his various department heads there, finding that they were finally gaining substantial progress in several of the more promising medical experiments, and adapting certain magics to be contained within objects so they could be utilized in the Muggle sectors without breaking the Wizarding Secrets laws. He found it more than a little amusing that he was now actually more comfortable with email, fax and telephone than he was with owl and parchment.
He sighed in resignation finally, seeing there was no valid reason to refuse to see McGonagall, and motioned his secretary to let her in, instructing tea, ginger biscuits and an extremely old bottle of firewhiskey to be brought in ten minutes. Unlike the Weasel, Draco held no particular antipathy to the Headmistress. By all reports she had done a most excellent job, something he was not surprised about in the least. She was a superlative educator, and while she did hold an unreasonable love of Griffyndor house, well, there were very few Headmasters who didn't show a marked preference for their own former Houses.
She swept into his office, robes swirling around her ankles, and he politely stood, shaking her hand and inviting her to a seat across from his desk.
"Headmistress, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?" She snorted good naturedly, and set her hat to the side, her penetrating blue eyes skewering him, and he had a flashback of all the times she'd fixed him with that same look during his school years. My Gods she'd been terrifying, not that he'd let on to it one iota, he thought.
"Mr. Malfoy, I'm sure you have guessed this isn't exactly a social call." He inclined his head in acknowledgement.
"I wouldn't imagine why it would be, given our shared past, so shall I start glaring down my nose and spouting nonsense about the way you are running the school now, or would you prefer to cue me on when my tirade should start?" She blinked twice in surprise and then chuckled richly.
"My goodness, if I'd had my eyes closed I would swear I was talking to the son of Severus Snape, not Lucius Malfoy. You certainly did inherit your godfathers talent for sarcasm, didn't you?"
"I shouldn't think that cutting through the preliminaries can really be counted as sarcasm, especially up to the level Severus was able to manage. The man raised snarkiness to a high art form."
"He did indeed. Would it surprise you to know that I do miss him still? He was a hard man, but he deserved far better than he got. I was very angry at Albus for what he put him through for so many years. It was a terrible burden for one man to bear alone."
"You knew? Of course you did, that's why you lobbied so hard for his name to be cleared," he nodded. "I will say I was surprised to learn that you succeeded. Hermoine told me about the campaign you waged to have it done."
"It was the right thing to do. And now, young man, I need you to shoulder your responsibilities as well. Honestly I am quite surprised that I have not seen you at any of the Governors meetings already." Draco was completely nonplussed.
"Governor's meetings? Why the bloody hell would I…." he trailed off, then shook his head. "It's an inherited position, not an elected one, isn't it?" She smiled then, just a bit.
"You didn't realize, then, well, I shouldn't be surprised, I suppose, you were still quite young." His jaw clenched and he saw her gaze soften.
"I am sorry, Mr. Malfoy, regardless of their crimes they were your family and I am sure they loved you, and you them." He stood abruptly and strode to the window, looking out over the view of Diagon Alley.
"My parents were utterly incapable of loving anything but money, power and blood status," he stated quietly. "I was their most shining possession; from a very early age I knew my role and what was expected of me. They approved of that, and were pleased that their ambitions came to fruition within me."
"I see." Her tone held a wealth of meaning, and he ventured that she really did know exactly what that meant. "Well, then I suppose that I need to know if you intend to take an interest in the running of Hogwarts, or should we simply owl you the minutes of the meetings." The answer, he found, was as immediate as it was surprising.
"I think I should rather prefer to attend if my schedule permits," he allowed. "I find myself in the unenviable position of seeing the world from two diametrically opposed positions, and I think that has given me a unique perspective on some of the more shocking lacks in our educational system." From his position still at the window he did not see the pleased smile on McGonagall's face, but a moment later he did hear the tea trolley being brought in, and turned.
"If you have time would you like to stay to tea and bring me somewhat up to speed on what I shall need to know about this position? I see they have managed to scrounge some of those ginger biscuits you are so fond of, and I don't believe a slight addition to the tea would go amiss since you have seen fit to disrupt my peace." She laughed aloud and allowed him to escort her to the small sitting area on the other side of the office.
"I do believe I might claim this disruption as partial recompense for the several times I was dragged form my sitting room, and sometimes from my sleep to deal with the aftermath of the mischief you and various members of my house saw fit to become involved in." He thought about that for a moment then raised an eyebrow.
"I suppose you are more deserving of that than you realize actually." He handed her a cup of tea liberally spiked with whiskey and the tin of biscuits. "Do you recall the night in third year when every loo in the school began to fountain with multicolored bogeys? That wasn't the Weasley twins." She choked slightly, and her eyes widened.
"That was you?" He laughed aloud at her expression, finally relaxing back into his seat.
"That was, more exactly, myself, Blaise Zabini, Pansy Parkinson, and Milicent Bulstrode. We did have to have girls to help set the thing up so we'd get all the loos, not just the gents."
"But the Weasley's confessed!" He grinned in rememberance.
"That was the best part, actually. To pull a prank so extreme and so ghastly that those two twits would gladly serve detention just to get the reputation boost was extraordinarily satisfying. So was watching them trying vainly to figure out who really did it so they knew how it was done." He watched as she actually mopped tears of mirth from her eyes, shaking her head in exasperation.
"I would never have guessed you had such a streak in you, dear boy, never. I suppose you'll be lobbying for more spell proofing the castle and harsher punishments for mischief makers, then?" He expression was affronted.
"That would be Hermoine's position, I'm sure, not mine. Pranks are normally quite innocent, if messy and inconvenient, but they do serve a valid purpose. They encourage teamwork and creativity, they bond students together in mutual mischief or misery as the case may be, no, we should seem as disapproving as you always did before we heard you laughing in your office on occasion."
"I'm quite sure no student ever saw or heard me laugh. I was quite careful with the Silencing Charms." He grinned and she smiled maternally. "You mknow, I believe that is perhaps the first genuine smile I have ever seen from you."
"Hmm, well don't let on, will you? I am supposed to be cold and supercilious at all times, it's a family heritage." She chuckled again.
"I believe the company of muggles has wrought quite a change in you, Mr. Malfoy, quite a change indeed. OR is it perhaps the company of a certain muggleborn?" He raised an eyebrow.
"Now really, Headmistress, that would be telling, would it not?" She laughed again, and conjured a scroll with the agenda for the governors meeting, handing it to him.
"I must go, there is a staff meeting in a few minutes, but I look forward to seeing what you will do with your families position on the board now. Not to mention the rest of the hereditary positions and titles your father could not be bothered to administrate. I shall expect to see you in the newspaper young man." They shook hands cordially and Draco didn't bother to disguise the bemusement in his expression as she exited his office. Apparently bloody wonders never did cease.